Page 2 RAIN May 1981 LETTERS Dear RAIN, I apologize to Michael Marien and his short-haired auto mechanic for my polemic and dumb statement about not trusting short-haired mechanics (as contrasted with competent hippies). My comment was largely poetic, referring to a particular time and place when countercultural types suddenly turned to useful ~raft and showed great skill at it. Some hippie newcomers are superbly competent, often more so than very complacent old-timers who have been coasting on past glories. But few young people, short or long-haired, can hope to be as competent, for a long time, as the truly gifted, great, older craftspeople who are a grace and a blessing in so many neighborhoods. Again, I apologize for a flip and silly remark that hadn't nearly enough basis in experience to be stated so emphatically. And, regarding that high-faluting letter from Undercurrents about no-one knows what a BTU is: no one, as he puts it, except in North America. Where does he suppose we live? No matter how hard they try, the British are unable to be civil to us colonials. Karl Hess Kearneysville, WV RAIN Dear Rainfolks, Your article on the Northwest Power Play (Jan. and Feb./Mar.) reminds me of stories my father used to tell me of when he used to work for a power company 30 years ago in northeastern Massachusetts. The big industry in the northeastern U.S. before WWII was the textile industry. These mills were built along the numerous rivers in the area. Dams were built and each mill had its own hydro-electric generating capabilities. After the war, the textile industry in this area began to die out due to more modern factories being built elsewhere. Rather than abandoning the buildings, the owners sold or rented the space to other bus~nesses, luring them in with their electricity. Then my father came in as a salesman for some big power company Journal of Appropriate Technology RAIN is a national information access journal making connections for people seeking more simple and satisfying lifestyles, working to make their communities and regions economically self-reliant, building a society that is durable, just and ecologically sound. RAIN STAFF: Laura Stuchinsky, Mark Roseland, Carlotta Collette, John Ferrell, Kevin Bell. Linnea Gilson, Graphics and Layout. RAIN, Journal of Appropriate Technology, is published 10 times yearly by the Rain Umbrella, Inc., a non-profit corporation located at 2270 N.W. Irving, Portland, Oregon 97210, telephone 503/227-5110. Copyright© 1981 Rain Umbrella, Inc. No part may be reprinted without written permission. Typesetting: Irish Setter Printing: Times Litho Cover Photograph: Ancil Nance
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